Is something wrong with my new zoa

[stumpy277]

My new zoanthid was really looking good..open all day and night..now he has closed up and shedding skin..and some black bits coming off too. Water parameters all all good..confused

 

[saltnewb]

any pictures?

 

[stumpy277]

any pictures?

I'll post one when I get home from work...thanks for the response

 

[wkscott]

How did you acclimate the new zoa to your lighting? Too much initial lighting can cause this. Do you have other zoanthids and corals in the tank? How old is your tank ?

 

[stumpy277]

How did you acclimate the new zoa to your lighting? Too much initial lighting can cause this. Do you have other zoanthids and corals in the tank? How old is your tank ?

The tank is new and just cycled ....it's the first item I've placed into the tank. As far as acclimation, I didn't

 

[stumpy277]

any pictures?

 

[stumpy277]

any pictures?

 

[stumpy277]

The night shot was prior to this...I was good for about quality week

 

[saltnewb]

do they open at all at this point? are you able to move them closer to the bottom of the tank? what size tank and what type of lighting are you using?

 

[stumpy277]

do they open at all at this point? are you able to move them closer to the bottom of the tank? what size tank and what type of lighting are you using?

They have been closed now for 2.5 days i could place them on the sand bed...7000k led

 

[ahiggins]

I think 7k is really low...best for growing is around 14k, viewing is 20k (if youre going by kelvin measurements). what lights do you have? brand.
You said your tank is new what are you parameters?
ammonia
nitrite
nitrate
Then we will need alkalinity & calcium to see how well your parameters are stabilizing.
Ive had an ammonia spike in my frag tank before and they looked like this, the shedding and stuff. It happens, youre going to loose coral at one point or another.
Sometimes they just melt away for no reason...
IF you can manage, with tweezers you could pluck away the dead skin bits. Sometimes when zoas are super close together they can get detritus buildup between the heads and it creates problems.

Zoas like dirtier water (ie more nitrates) I usually run my lps/zoa frag tank at 5-10 ppm nitrate.

 

[saltnewb]

if possible, with the light you have, try moving them towards the top and see if they start to open.

 

[stumpy277]

if possible, with the light you have, try moving them towards the top and see if they start to open.

They were at the top ...running the current usa orbit

 

[stumpy277]

Well..I said goodbye to her today....I'll have no idea what the problem was...also water parameters were good....light was good..well ill be waiting to add anything else for a bit...I'll let it run a couple more weeks and keep testing..perhaps just a fluke..I've never had a problem with zoas like that before.

 

[saltnewb]

bummer. were you using the same lights before that you have now?

 

[anttyler453]

what happen that you said good by how do you know they where dead mine havent opened in a few weeks and i found out i had ammonia there all still alive tho

 

[stumpy277]

They literally shrunk and lost their color...my lfs told me.was best to get it out.

 

[40B Knasty]

Change it to different spots of the tank. Higher light/higher flow. Low light/higher flow. Lowlight/ low flow. One is bound to work. Maybe not enough food. Reefroids if they are not getting enough light for photosynthesis from the zooxanthellae that gives your coral nutrients for health and growth. Your zoa might have changed to night feeding. It does happen. I am going through this with all my zoas now. Bam bams looked like I should just throw them away. Stuck them up high. Heavy flow off the filter for better O². A splash of reefroids. Bam bam bam bam bam! All 5 are open and ready to be thriving. Inside of 1 day. Just need to feed the zooxanthellae to bring the color back. Plus I seen a video from BRS that zooxanthellae peak photosynthesis at dawn and dusk. So I peaked the lighting at the start of the day and near the end of the day. My frootloops are finally looking really good! But battling with them looking faded for the past 3 months.